This year’s Birthday Dress photoshoot took place in Charlotte, North Carolina. This was the second year (of the twelve we’ve been doing this) that rain got in the way, but thankfully this time we were able to get a lot done before the rain started. When it did start to rain, w...

Twenty years ago today, I first set foot in Mariupol, Ukraine.

Our little birthday tradition was delayed this year because Katie and I both were sick on her 38th birthday. There was no cake, and there was no party. She got sick, then I got sick, then my parents got sick. It was a sad birthday. Finally, over a week later, we got out to sho...

So we moved this past weekend. Moving is something we've done a few times in the years we've been married, but there was something special about this one. This time, we moved into our own place. We are now home owners in Ukraine. That's the short story. The longer version is a...

Pictures from our very busy March.

Twenty years ago today, I took a photo just seconds before one of the most important moments of my life. I was in Lubbock, Texas, and I was with a group of students I didn’t really know out on a service project. After being scattered for an hour or so, we were scheduled to me...

We can’t believe four years have passed, but here we are. We’ve had a wonderful birthday celebration all weekend. This kid is blessed by so many wonderful friends and family. And we are so blessed to have him. Here’s a video I put together remembering some of the adventures w...

Flight № 34: Munich–Charlotte Justus was a little more than a month old when he took his first plane ride. We were so nervous, but he did just fine. As it turned out, it was an accurate preview of the kind of world traveler he would soon become. This last week on the last leg...

I read a wide variety of books this year, but I suppose there's a pattern there if you look closely. Most of them encouraged, challenged, and taught me a lot of new things.

We’ve lived here for more than a year, but we’ve hardly seen much of Kyiv at all. We feel busy enough with our daily work and family life that we’ve rarely even crossed the bridge towards the center. Now that my parents have been in town, we’ve been more motivated to go out a...

It took me nearly three months to memorize First Thessalonians. It was not easy, but it was a very rewarding challenge.

Even though we travel all the time, we hadn't been on an honest-to-goodness family vacation since before Justus was born.